Fire-alarm system and apparatus.



No. 648,367. Patented Apr. 24, 1900. n. A. sum.

FIRE ALARM SYSTEM AND APPARATUS.

(Application filed Aug. 31, 1899.) (No Model.) 3 sheetseshaet I.

No. 648,367. Patented 'Apr. '24, I900.

n. A. sum.

FIRE ALARM SYSTEM AND APPARATUS.

(Application filed Aug. 31, 1899,)- (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 msuonms versus 50.. Pucrp-umo msmmnm, n. c.

No. 648,367. Patented A r; 24, I900. n. A. SMITH.

FIRE ALARM SYSTEM AND APPARATUS.

(Application filed Aug. 31, 1899.)

3 Sheets8heet 3.

(No Model.)

7725265565.: A lnrewr Wu dwlm A Q MMZO,

mus virus :0, PNOYO-UTHO" WASNING'YON. n. c.

UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFI E.

RIcIIARD ALEXANDER SMITH, or NORFOLK, VIRGINIA.

FIRE-ALARM SYSTEM AND APPARATUS.

' SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 648,367, dated April24, 1900.

Application filed August 31, 1899. Serial N0. 729,054. No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD ALEXANDER SMITH, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Norfolk, in the county of Norfolk and State ofVirginia, have invented new and usefullmprovementsin Fire-Alarm Systemsand Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates tofire-alarm-telegraph systems, and particularly tothe central-office circuits and apparatus for such systems. In

such as may be purchased in the open market at low prices and aggregatedby any skilled electrician or engineer working in accordance with myplans-that is to say, that the main part of the invention lies in thecircuits and in the arrangement of ordinary apparatus, so that, forinstance, instead of having to'purchase special parts, such as relays,ordinary estern Union relays andthe like. I

My switchboard consists, essentially, of a may be used alarm-boxes orthe well-known,closed cironit break wheel type. Of course the systemmight be adapted to Work with normally-open loops; but as this is nowconsidered very poor practice and as it would merely. necessitatereversals of the connections of relays entirely within the scope of theordinary electrician I have not thoughtit necessary to illustrate ordescribe it. 1 Each loop has its relay in the central office, whichcontrols a main gong and en gine-alarm circuit, and each loop has a normally-closed gap controlled by a relay which in turn is controlled bythe gong-circuit. I have found by actual use of this arrangement ofcircuit that all signals may thus be repeated in a system of moderatesize without the necessity arising for non-interference or othercomplicated apparatus. Heretofore there have been manysmall towns wherea fire-alarm system would be very desirable that have been forced to dowithout such protection because the necessary repeaters would cost fromone to three thousand dollars,whereas the entire system, without therepeater, in any ordinary case might be built for less than a thousanddollars. In my system the arrangement is such that even with good operative repeating no parts are required except with my invention.

ence letters and figures point out the same parts throughout.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1' is a diagram showing the, arrangement of, circuits and apparatus for a fire-alarm system having a singlecentral station in accordance Fig. 2 is a front View of my switchboard.Fig. 3 is a side View of the same. Figs. 4, and 5 are. detail viewsshowing the circuit-closer and the link-guide, respectively, used inconnection with the gong to control the repeating relay-circuit.

Referring to Fig. 1, O, O, and C are loops extending out from thecentral office and each including in series a number of signal-boxes, asplainly indicated in the drawings. R, R and R are individual relays eachincluded in one of the loops and adapted to control the gong-circuit. MM M? M are secondary or storage batteries each consisting of a duplicateset of cells, one set being adapted to be included in each of the loopswhile the other set, its duplicate, is being charged. G, G, G and G, aregalvanometers, the first three of which, togetherwith the first three ofthe storage batteries, appertain to the three box-loops shown, while thefourth galvanometer and the fourth battery belong to the gong-circuit,which also extends out to a number of engine-houses, fire-chiefs houses,&c., in series. These are shown at O, 0', O

and O b, b, and b are single-stroke signal bells in the box-circuits. R,R and are 4 r second, to operate-the relay to close thecharging-circuits properas follows: from-the s i 45 to and throughbattery M by wire; 46 to relays included in the local circuit controlled1 by the gong andin turn controltheir respective box circuits or loops.The circuits of all of these pieces of apparatus will be traced andtheir functions made clear presently.

a The secondary batteries, which are now commonly used in fire-telegraphsystems in place of the old-fashioned gravity-batteries, are usuallycharged in large installations by local generators especially installedfor the purpose.

In "smaller installations they are charged from the city mains, asalmost every lighting system.

town that would aspire to a fire;telegra ph system is already providedwith an electric- I have therefore shown the wires 1 2, which-aresupposed to lead-froma source of current suitable for charging thebatteries, with'openends. They enter this installation through afuse-block 'i and are connected to the station bus-bars 3 '4. Thesebusbars'are connected,respectively, to the two sides ofa double-polexknife-switch' P which, together with the Yammeter V and the relay R islocatedat anysuitable point in the room. This maybe v upjonytheswitchboard,'ii desired, but not necessarily so, as

' thecondition of thecharging-wi'res is shown by the threefincandescen-tlamps I 1'13; The circuitsof the lamps and batteriesare asfolslows: fromswitch P by wire. 5 to ammeter V, by wire 7 to one side oflallyt'he'lamps,

through lamp Iby'branch 111, by wire-8 to the relay R and by wire 6 backto-theswitch and the bus-bar. This circuit isalways complete when theswitch P is closed and serves for two purposese first, by means of thelamp .1 at the board to show that the charging current is onjand bytheainmeter, which isusually located at the switch, that the current isupto-the proper amperage, and,

switch P by wires, 5 and 7 to the lamps I and 1 throughthese "lamps inparallel (the parallel resistancexthus obtained being [low enoughto'insure the proper volume of char-g:- ying curr'ent and enabling thecurrent-flow to.

befcut down itanybatteries are cutoutby simply cutting ofi'onelam'p atthe key-socket, as shown inFig.-2,this of course doubling theresistance) by-wire, 9 to theiront contact m of the relay R through thearmature r by wire 43 tothe'post 19 thence through the batteryM topost'p, by wire 44 to and-through.

the same connections ofbattery M by wire il ld through'battery M and bywire 47, back to the point 48 anduwire 6 to the switchiP".

The reason for havin'g the rel ayR control I oithis circuit is that whenthe currentceases to flow into the charging-main for-any reason ingbaekthrough the generator or generators at'the otherend-ot thewire's'l 2.Where-the current ceases because of the stoppage of the only one switchcan be thrown into contact with them at once. Now each switch has one ofthe pair of secondary batteries included between its switch-blades. Thusthe switch P is pivoted uponthe posts 19 and p 9, and one of the firstpair of storage batteries at P is bridged between these posts. In asimilar way the other one of the pair is bridged across the posts 19 andp upon which is pivoted the switch P Theuppermost pair ofposts 19 and pand the lowermost pair of posts p and p are connected in parallelthrough wires 20 and 21 to the'w'ire's 13, the boxes O, the switch Z,wire 14, relay R, wire 15, armature r, and the back contact thereof 'ofrelay'R, by wire 16 to switch Z, wire 17 to boardin thecharging-wires'4344 45 46 47. It must thus'be :a'pp'arent'that by throwing the'upperswitch down intocont-act with posts 19 and 19 as shown in Fig. 1,the battery connected with said switch is connected into thechargingcircuit, while by throwing the lower switch, down into contact:with theipos'ts p and p the other-battery of .the pair-"is connectedinto the loop-circuit for-service; Ob- Viously if both 'switch'es'fwerethrown up, as are P :and P in Fig.2, the connections of the batteriesasregards. charging? and dis- IOO IIO

charging would be reversed relatively. Each galvano neter 'G, & c,,-indicates at all times the condition of-i-ts-circuit. j The-bell b or b,

&c.', responds; t'olthe changes dueto signals pin-any particular loop;By the methodof repeating, which will be;described', it":w-ill be seenthat these bellsalso respond to changes in'all the loops." TheiruselinFig. 1-in the position shown does not necessarily mean thatthey are theonly responsive devices in the loop-circuits. "They are intended tostand for whatever in the way ofi'signal-receiving devices may beincludedJin'the loops either "at'the central. station-or outside. Thuseach loop may hax e one o'r-m'ore engineehouses connected with it,and'in that case its responsive devices would all beclosed-circuitdevices, such as those 'showna't'b.

Thus far I have described thecharging-circuits, the loop-circuits, andthebattery connection. The system would be operative with onlythese,'for each loop would servefor the transmission of signals to itsindividual bell b b, &c. I will now describe the gong-circuit and therepeaters. B in Fig. 1 is any suitable electromechanical strokegong,which is arranged to work on a closed circuit and which is provided witha hammer H and clockwork mechanism for operating the same, normally heldup against operation by the energization of a controlling-magnet. Fromthe hammer H, I extend a link B into a box, preferably of cast metal,which I locate beside the gong in any suitable part of the room. Thisbox and its arrangement of parts are best shown in Figs. 4 and 5.Referring to those figures, the link B extends through an orifice in thewall of the box and through the eye of a guide g. This eye is pivotedupon a small bridge g fastened to the back of the box, and its functionis to give lateral play to the link B as the latter is swung by thehammer. Within the box a pair of springs q q are mounted upon a block ofinsulation (1 and are connected by wires 53 54 to suitablebinding-posts. The spring q normally rests under considerable tensionagainst a stop (1 and the spring q lies in the path of the end of thelink B, so as to be pushed over and lift the twin spring from itssupport, thus making a good contact with it.

Returning to Fig.1, the springs q and q are connected in a localcircuit, which containsa battery M, which may be composed of ordinaryopen-circuit cells, such as the Leclanch, and which also contains all ofthe relays R R 13 in series as follows: from battery Mby wire 49 torelay R, wire 50 to R wire 51 to R wire 52 to a switch g by which thecircuit may be broken, if desired, and thence by wire 53 to spring q andfrom spring g by wire 54 back to the battery. When the springs q and qare forced together by the dropping of the hammer of the gongforastroke, all of these relays attract their armatures simultaneously,and each loop-circuit C, O,and 0 if in proper condition, will be brokenfor the moment, the bells b b b and such other bells as may be in theloops thus responding by giving one stroke, the same as the gong B. Thecircuit of the gong B, by which it is controlled, is by way of wire 31to and through the loops O O 0, and O and wire 22 to and through thefront stop and armatures of the relays R, R and R in series, and thenceby the wire 38 to the galvanometer G and by the wire 37 to the switchand secondary battery P and by wire 34 to the set of switches L andthence by wire 32 back to the gong. With this arrangement if there is abreak on any loop due to a signal the relay of that loop will releaseits armature and break the gong-circuit, thus giving the signal not onlyby the gong striking, but through the repeating-circuit 53 54, &c., toall the other loops. In Fig. 1, however, I have chosen to show thegongcircuit as switched out of the ordinary way by the switches at LThese switches are part of a complete set extending across the face ofthe switchboard, of which there are three for each circuit, which I havelettered Z, Z, and Z for each group or for each loop. Of these Z and Zare the terminals of the loop wires 13 and 17 and normally rest uponcontacts which connect these loop-wires through the magnet of thelooprelay,as R,and through the armature and back-stop of the repeatingrelay, as B. This normal connection is shown in loop 0 at the left ofFig. 1. It will there be perceived that the switch Z has but one contactand that it is shown open. When closed, it short-circuits the contact 0*and the armature r of the relay B, so that the signals coming in fromthat loop will not affect the gong-circuit 22, &c. This position of theswitch may be used when a test of the loop is desired or when for anyreason the loop is placed out of service, as by a cross or shortcircuit.

When the switches Z and Z are thrown to the right, they break theirloop-wires away from the normal connection to the relay and repeatingmagnet and throw them into connection directly with the gong-circuit.This condition is shown at the third set of switches L Here theloop-circuit coming from the boxes of the loop C is connected by theswitch Z of the set L through wire to wire 38 at the point 61, thence toand through the gal- Vanometer and the rest of the gong-circuit by wires31 and 22 and through the armature r and 1' by wire 62 to contact ofswitch Z, and thence by wire 17 to hell b galvonoineter G secondarybattery at P and back onto the loop. The loop-circuit itself being thusunited with and forming a part of the centraloffice gong-circuit, thereis no necessity for a repeater nor for a loop-relay, and of course bothof these are cutoff. All signals coming in over that loop affect thegong directly,

.while any other signals coming from other loops will affect thegong-circuit through their relays and inasmuch as the switched loop is apart of the gong-circuit will also affect it. This expedient may beresorted to when the relay or repeater of a loop is out of order, or ifa repeater alone does not work the shortcircuiting switch Z would beused.

Included in the gong-circuit is a group of these switches, (indicated atL in Fig. 1.) In this roup when the upper pair of switches Z and Z arethrown to the left, as shown, they merely complete the circuit through ashort wire 33. Then they are thrown to the right, however, they includea test-bell b in the gong-circuit. In using this bell for testing loopsthe short-circuiting switch to would be used to prevent the gongresponding, which would of course repeat the test into all the loops.The switches Z Z Z and Z are also used to short circuit the loops 0, O,0 and 0 so that the test-circuit will be past those loops by theswitches and the wires 24, 25, 27, and 29 instead of by the wires 23,26,

28, and so. The switch Z2 being thrown upon contact 40, it closes ashort circuit through wires 39 and ll between the points 42 and 61 ofthe main-gong circuit, thus enabling tests of all the inside part of thecircuit to be made with the switches Z Z thrown to the right withoutaffecting any of the loops. During such a test loop-signals would comein on the bells b, b, and b coat,of wood or othersuitable material,mounted upon awall. 'Set out from this wainscoat a sufficient distanceto permit-the passage of persons behind it is a frame having verticalmembers S S and horizontal members S S and S. This framing I preferablyconstruct oftubular brass in short lengths connected by brass fittings.In this way a very flexible board is obtained, for by substitutinga Tfor an angle fitting at each upper corner I can add another panel whenrequired. The vertical members are secured to the fioor by suitablefianges, and at their upper extremity horizontal members S connect theboard with the wainscoat S. Theupper portion of the board consists of apanel 5, of wood, set into the frame and carrying a case siglazed infront and on the side and containing the relays R R B &c. The relaysshown in Fig. 2 suffice for six loops, one of each pair beingloop-relays and the others being repeating relays. The lid of the glazedcase is hinged to permit of ready access to the relays for adjustment orrepairs. Set into thepanel s below the box 5 is a fiber or ebonite'panel 8 carrying the groups of switches L L L 850.

This panel I secure by meansof a brass flange around it, which alsoserves to give it an ornamental appearance. The lower half of the boardconsists of a panel 3, of slate, carrying the switches P P, &c.

' this panel, upon brackets p, is a shelf 25, carrying thegalvanoineters G G, &c. There are seven of these shown, six being forthe loops and one for the gong-circuit. By constructing a switchboard inthis way I attain at once three desirable ends-first, strength anddurability; second, an ornamental appearance,

and, third, a possibility of aggregating the. parts or replacing any ofthem from the sup plies carried by any good electrical-supply dealer. Nospecial apparatus is'required, the.

only extra work to be done after obtaining the parts and constructingthe frame being to put in the relays into the glazed case, drill and fitthe panels, and wire up.

In Fig. 3 I have not shown the wiring behind theboard, as it wouldconvey no mean-' ing, as it shows in reality and wouldneedlessly-complicate the drawing. It issuffi cientto say that theloop-wires and other circuit, cables and all, are brought up' or downonto the wainscoat S, where a suitable cross-connecting frame permitstheir arrange ment, from which suitable jumpers are car-- ried across bythe members S of the frame Referring now to Figs. 2 and 3, S isa wains-Mounted just below .to the back of the board. The pilot-lamps I, I, andI are mounted'upon bracket-arms 'i, which extend over the front of theboard. As. all of the construction back of the board is alien to myinvention, I have not-shown this either.

I What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is-

1. In a fire-telegraph system a series of loops extending out from acentral station and containing signal-sending and signalreceivin'gdevices, a local circuit and responsive devices therein at the centraloffice under the control of all the loops, a second local circuit andaseries of relays included therein controlling contacts in the variousloops, and means whereby the responsive devices in the first localcircuit may control the second localcircuit, substantiall-yas described.1 v

2. In a fire-telegraph system a series of loops extending out from acentral station, a

gong-circuit at the central station adapted to be controlled by all ofthe loops, a series of relays controlling contacts included 'in theloops, and themselves included in a local circuit, a gong in thegong-circuit, and mechanism controlled by said gong in its operation .toopen and close the local relay-circuit, substantially as described.

3. In afire-telegraph system a series of loops, with signal-sending andsignal-receiving in eansin each loop, a gong-circuit com mon toallof'the loops, and a series of relays ICO includedin the loops andcontrolling contacts in the gong-circuit; together with switching meansfor each loop whereby its relay may be disconnected andtheloop'simultaneously brought into direct connection with thegongcircuit, substantially as described.

4. In a fire-telegraph system a series of loops, and a gong-circuithaving one portion provided with contacts controlled'by relays in theloops, a normally-open shunt for said portion, and a normally-opencontact with switches therefor and a test-bell adapted to and to acharging-circuit respectively and so arranged that one set of batteriesmay be connected to the signaling-circuits while its twin setisbeingcharged, the charging-circuit extending to the charging-switchesin my hand, this 29th day of August, A. D. 1899, series, a short circuitor bridge across said in the'presenee of two witnesses.

ehar in -circuit and a relay therein therelay-e hnt acts being includedinthe charging- RICHARD ALEXANDER SMITH 5 circuit between the relayitself and the charg- Witnesses:

ing-switches, substantially as described. CHAS. A. BRUCE,

. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set CORA V. GRIFFIN.

